Leadership is Showing Up

God speaks.  Sometimes we hear it.  Sometimes we sense it.  We can be busy or still but the feeling of God revealing His heart to us is awesome.  My concern is that I have sensed God telling me something when I lose a body part.  At this point I love the wisdom and encouragement He provides but I’m not real keen on losing more of what I was born with!

Recently I had my appendix removed in a surprise surgery.  My first thought to stomach pain was that it was the stuffed-crust Pizza Hut pizza that I consumed on a Friday evening.  But by Monday I was feeling a sharp pain not associated with too much cheese and grease.  One thing led to another and the next thing I knew I was lined up for a surgery to remove my appendix.

Last year I had my thyroid and cancerous tumor removed.  I lost those things successfully but gained a new appreciation of what surrender looks like.  Surrender is not a popular term nor one that we think of in the positive but I had to get there in order to know who was in charge and who had plans for my life.  Newsflash!  It’s not me!

This year I lost my appendix but the loss of that revealed a statement that put my recent life of working with teenagers as a substitute teacher and coach into context. 

We crave leadership but settle for management.

I had my appendix removed around 5pm.  By 7:30 I was on my way home.  Upon my return to our house I plopped down on the couch and started to reflect on the day with Jan and our boys.  That’s when I discovered that my IV port was still jabbed in my arm.  I was slightly annoyed and while Jan called the hospital to tell them of my predicament, I knew I would have to return.  I could pull it out myself but…the hospital needed to finish their job and assume the liability.

So, I put my sweatshirt on and drove myself back in to the hospital.  I walked into the emergency room and tried to explain my predicament to the staff.  They were skeptical at best and told me to take a seat and wait a few minutes.  But I persisted and eventually I got the attention of a nurse that took me back and finished their job.  I had to show up in order for things to be completed the right way.

The next day we had our first track and field meet.  I was up, moving pretty good, and felt fine to go fulfill my job as head coach.  So I went to the meet and restrained from doing something stupid, like running or bending over, but I did fulfill the position of chief encourager and coach!

Typically as track meets go along and the events start to stack up and fatigue starts to hit the legs you can expect some doubt to creep in the mind of a teenager.  Running can be really, really difficult.  But the rewards can be plentiful and meaningful.  But there is always that moment when managing the pain and discomfort seems better than pushing into an unknown.

At this meet I had no other tricks up my sleeve to coach other than 3 glued-together wounds on my belly.  I didn’t think of it this way but my “just showing up” was the best teaching tool and leadership advice I could provide.  Any excuse from a runner to not run paled in comparison to their coach that had surgery less than 24 hours prior.  An excuse of tired legs didn’t measure up to losing an internal body part and then walking around a field trying to extract a little more from coachable kids.   Leading by showing up was better than managing.

I’m guilty of settling for management when I truly desire leadership.  In my little coaching example I could have managed their requests and used a lot of different techniques to coach.  I could yell.  I could instruct how to stretch.  I could show a lot of empathy and let them rest.  But for whatever reason God gave me a story, and physical capacity, to lead by showing up.   My story of being there after surgery was the leadership example that the kids needed to see.  Do the hard things!  Get comfortable doing uncomfortable things!  You are here so you might as well run!  I didn’t realize it at the time but just showing up was better than anything I said that day.  I couldn’t tell if it was stupidity or a sign of success that I was there after surgery to be honest.

Faith is this way.  Even though we can manage and plan your life we need to consider if we should be led instead.  We can follow the qualified that have perceived solutions or a hope that we desire.  We can be lured into a false sense of security with our minds, our wealth, or our position and status.  But I think we truly, truly want to follow leadership that functions in our faith life.  That’s Jesus.  We need hope.   We need something to live for and someone to follow, because managing what we see, what we have, and what we want doesn’t take us very deep into our God-designed purpose.

This is the case for faith and the case for Jesus.  Jesus is a leader.  He confused the seemingly-qualified of his day.  He was a leader by showing up and being an example without being slick, promotional, or all-knowing.  People were attracted to Him because he truly functioned as the Messiah they had been told about and was available.  Others couldn’t stand him because he functioned that way!  But the function of His leadership brought them out in droves and followed him everywhere He went.  And after the cross He is everywhere we go.  He is a Savior that stands above systems.

I truly believe that our culture is hungry for leadership that is simple and relatable.  We need Jesus and he’s there in the most practical way possible…He is available always.  He’s not in your heart to manage but to lead.  And hopefully you won’t have to give up a body part to realize that!